Editing Religion in ancient Rome (section)

==== Transition to Christian hegemony ====
{{Main|Christianization of the late Roman empire}}
{{See also|Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire|Theodosius I}}
[[File:Chrisme Colosseum Rome Italy.jpg|thumb|Monogramme of Christ (the [[Chi Rho]]) on a plaque of a marble [[sarcophagus]], 4th century CE (Musei Vaticani, here in a temporary exhibition at the Colosseum in Rome, Italy)]]

<!--This summary was moved from above: Imperial cult became a focus of theological and political debate during the ascendancy of Christianity under [[Constantine I]]. The emperor [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]] failed to reverse the declining support for Rome's traditional cults: [[Theodosius I]] adopted Christianity as the Imperial State religion. Officially, the "Imperial cult" was abandoned, along with all cults other than Imperially sanctioned forms of Christianity.<ref>Momigliano, 142-158.</ref>-->
Christianity and traditional Roman religion proved incompatible. From the 2nd century onward, the [[Church Fathers]] had condemned the diverse non-Christian religions practiced throughout the Empire as "pagan".<ref>See Peter Brown, in Bowersock et al., ''Late antiquity: a guide to the postclassical world'', Harvard University Press, (1999), for "pagan" as a mark of socio-religious inferiority in Latin Christian polemic: [https://books.google.com/books?id=c788wWR_bLwC&dq=pagus+paganus&pg=PA625]</ref> Constantine's actions have been regarded by some scholars as causing the rapid growth of Christianity,<ref>Ramsay MacMullen, Christianizing the Roman empire. A.D.100-400. Yale University Press. p. 51</ref> though many modern scholars disagree.<ref>Paul Stephenson, Constantine: Unconquered emperor, Christian victor (2009) p. 5</ref><ref>Rodney Stark, ''The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion'' (HarperCollins 2011) pp. 169-182</ref> Constantine's unique form of Imperial orthodoxy did not outlast him. After his death in 337, two of his sons, [[Constantius II]] and [[Constans]], took over the leadership of the empire and re-divided their Imperial inheritance. Constantius was an [[Arianism|Arian]] and his brothers were Nicene Christians.

Constantine's nephew [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]] rejected the "Galilean madness" of his upbringing for an idiosyncratic synthesis of [[neo-Platonism]], Stoic asceticism and universal solar cult. Julian became Augustus in 361 and actively fostered a religious and cultural pluralism, attempting a restitution of non-Christian practices and rights.<ref>A summary of relevant legislation is available online at the Wisconsin Lutheran College website – [http://www.fourthcentury.com/index.php/imperial-laws-chart FourthCentury.com] (accessed 30 August 2009)</ref> He proposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem's temple as an Imperial project and argued against the "irrational impieties" of Christian doctrine.<ref>See Julian's ''Against the Galilaeans'' (trans. Wright, from Cyril of Alexandria's later refutation, ''Contra Julianum'') at [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/julian_apostate_galileans_1_text.htm Tertullian.org] (accessed 30 August 2009). Julian admired the work of the Platonist (or neo-Platonist) [[Iamblichus]].</ref> His attempt to restore an Augustan form of principate, with himself as ''[[primus inter pares]]'' ended with his death in 363 in Persia, after which his reforms were reversed or abandoned. The empire once again fell under Christian control, this time permanently.

In 380, under [[Theodosius I]], [[Nicene Christianity]] became the official [[state church of the Roman Empire|state religion of the Roman Empire]]. [[Christian heresy|Christian heretics]] as well as non-Christians were subject to exclusion from public life or persecution, though Rome's original religious hierarchy and many aspects of its ritual influenced Christian forms,<ref name="Stefan Heid 2007 pp. 406">Stefan Heid, "The Romanness of Roman Christianity", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), pp. 406–426; on vocabulary in particular, Robert Schilling, "The Decline and Survival of Roman Religion", ''Roman and European Mythologies'' (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 110.</ref> and many pre-Christian beliefs and practices survived in Christian festivals and local traditions.

The Western emperor [[Gratian]] refused the office of ''pontifex maximus'', and against the protests of the Senate, removed the [[altar of Victory]] from the Senate house and began the disestablishment of the Vestals. [[Theodosius I]] briefly re-united the Empire: in 391 he officially adopted Nicene Christianity as the Imperial religion and ended official support for all other creeds and cults. He not only refused to restore Victory to the senate-house, but extinguished the Sacred fire of the Vestals and vacated their temple: the senatorial protest was expressed in a letter by [[Quintus Aurelius Symmachus]] to the Western and Eastern emperors. [[Ambrose]], the influential [[Bishop of Milan]] and future saint, wrote urging the rejection of Symmachus's request for tolerance.<ref>The correspondence is available online at Internet Medieval Sourcebook: Letter of St. Ambrose, trans. H. De Romestin, 1896., [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ambrose-sym.html Fordham.edu] (accessed 29 August 2009)</ref> Yet Theodosius accepted comparison with Hercules and Jupiter as a living divinity in the panegyric of [[Pacatus Drepanius|Pacatus]], and despite his active dismantling of Rome's traditional cults and priesthoods could commend his heirs to its overwhelmingly Hellenic Senate in traditional Hellenic terms.{{Clarify|date=April 2011}} He was the last emperor of both East and West.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=JNIOAAAAQAAJ&dq=pacatus+theodosius&pg=PA66 Books.Google.co.uk], Williams & Friell, 65-67. Limited preview at googlebooks</ref><ref>Nixon & Rodgers, 437-48: Full text of [[Pacatus Drepanius|Latinus Pacata Drepanius]], ''Panegyric of Theodosius'' (389) with commentary and context.</ref>